I run a base model cheap azz Ariens lawn “tractor”. It does fine for my small 3/4ish acre mowing needs.

Pop has some fancy pants Ferris ZT mower. Thing has more horsepower than my commuter car and is made out of something like 1/4” plate steel. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s for damn sure a heavy beast. If you get going over your skill level, which isn’t hard to do, you’ll hit something and it’ll break. Not the mower, what ya hit. Lol.

My Ariens will rattle apart in the next few years. 10 years out of a $800 mower sounds fine to me.

“Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die.”